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Most of the best and most legendary songs in rock history weren’t made by wunderkind instrumentalist wizards and divinely gifted singers, but rather by average-to-good musicians whose sum of combined parts (unsure about grammar/syntax here) where greater their individual talents. That’s when magic happens. There are exceptions.

I’ll admit, though, that this solo by Zakk Wylde is pretty hairy.

Edit: On second thought it is pretty much just noise. While he certainly can play guitar I find his repertoire to be limited. Definitely not top tier. But he does have the sound that Ozzy needs.

Gun nuts all over America are getting their knickers in a twist over comedian Jim Carrey’s Charlton Heston spoof and mockery of gun nuts, rednecks and hillbillies. Guys, you need to unclench, pull out the stick and relax. Even shit aimed at you can be funny. And this is. Funny as hell. Life is too short, if you know what I mean. (Click the expand button in the lower right corner to minimize the impact of the annoying iTunes ad.)

Brad Paisley and LL Cool J recently teamed up to release the song “Accidental Racist” in an effort to cure racism in America and bring the Country and Western crowd and the Rap people closer together. Good intentions, yes? Maybe…

Not being much of a fan of either C&W or rap I think the song stinks from a musical point of view. Much worse, however, is that it completely fails as a Kumbaya piece and makes a mockery of our nation’s history, comes very strongly across as an apologia for Southern racism, and stereotypes blacks as saggy-pantsed gangstas.

The theme of the song is a black Starbucks barista who is offended by a rebel-flag t-shirt wearing patron. We find out through the song that it’s just a big misunderstanding on both sides, the t-shirt only means the redneck likes Lynyrd Skynyrd, we should all hug and try to respect each others’ backgrounds and just get along.

Well, it ain’t that simple. The flag of the Confederate states was conceived solely as a symbol for those who so hated the idea of giving up their right to own African-Americans as chattel, that they were willing to go to war and secede from the Union. It is just as disingenuous to brandish the rebel flag and claim racial innocence based on “southern pride”, “cultural heritage” and other such nonsense as it would be for someone to fly the Swastika and say it’s just a symbol of Alpen Pride or Lederehosen History. Worse, actually, because the swastika is an ancient symbol hijacked by Nazis; the rebel rag has never meant anything other than white supremacy and enslavement of blacks.

There is no substantive difference between the four t-shirts pictured below. If you wear either one, you are all of them.

It would be sacrilege if I said it so I won’t (but I will), but this is fucking awesome! The creators get 1st Honors, however. Deep Purple has a special place in my heart (if not in The Rock & Roll Hall of F(Sh)ame); I’ve seen them live with the most classic of Deep Purple classic lineups, so this isn’t a put-down, but I’m not afraid to say that Satch can play circles around Blackmoore any day of the week. Chickenfoot is a band that’s not Deep Purple, with no keyboards, playing a Deep Purple classic and making it sound better than Deep Purple with keyboards! There, I said it, so now I’ll have to cut out my tongue. Hate away.

British rock guitarist Alvin Lee, founder of the band Ten Years After who burst to stardom with a memorable Woodstock performance, has died. He was 68.

A statement posted on Lee’s official website said he died Wednesday March 6th unexpectedly from complications following a routine surgical procedure. Lee’s manager, Ron Rainey, said the guitarist died in Spain.

This part is all mine:

I have never been a huge follower of TYA or Alvin Lee. I’m too young to have been in on it from the beginning; about ten years short of being of the true Woodstock generation (which turns out well, or else I would have been 63 instead of my youthful 53 today), but I really like some of their stuff, I recognize their influence on generations hence and it’s always a sad day when a true trailblazer of the art form of Rock and Roll dies, particularly when it’s prematurely. I would say RIP, but I don’t believe in that shit. It was nice to have him around for as long as it lasted, though. He made the world a better place.

Here’s Alvin Lee playing Hear Me Calling in Budapest in 2010.

Here’s Slade, one of the many bands influenced by Lee/Ten Years After doing a helluva cover of Hear Me Calling.